Obsidian Rain
by MysteriousPriestess
Summary: This is an over-rated fic (I don't know what's going to be in the chapters to come) with a really long 1st chap... it's my first fic ... It starts before Rezo turns Zelgadis into a chimera~ Read to find out more ...
1. Her Name is Rika ...

A/N: Yes~ my first fic … It's a Slayers fic with Zelgadis. It starts before Rezo turns him into a chimera. I don't know if it's any good or not ~ I've never written anything before so I wouldn't know~ I hope you like it …   
  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers or anything of theirs' … I am just using the characters to write this … I do how ever own Rika~ so don't use her …   
  
  
Chapter 1: Her name is Rika  
  
  
13 year old Zelgadis kept practicing with his sword. He swished, repeating his steps in his mind. "Stroke, swish, lunge, parry …" With one last thrust down he hit the log precisely on target. He wiped beads of sweat from his fore-head … he did this every morning as a warm-up exercise. About to begin his 6 hour long, daily practice he sheathed his sword and in mid-step felt a soft hand on his shoulder. He turned around prepared to give an icy glare to who ever dare interrupt his sword practice. But his blue eyes locked on with those familiar gray ones he often saw every day.   
  
"Zelgadis …" she smiled and greeted warmly. "I don't have time for you today Rika …" he said gruffly. Her eyes read of concern and understanding. "Zel … you are already a master swordsman … please, just …" Zelgadis cut her off. "I SAID GO HOME RIKA!!! I AM TRYING TO GET STRONGER!!!" He hacked at the log until it was just about saw dust.   
  
She shook her head sadly, and raised her hands in front of her, whispering words under her breath and taking Zelgadis' arm. "Recovery …" she said in her honey-soft voice, white light softly emanating from her hand.   
  
As the light engulfed the small cut on his arm and the and scratch healed it left his well-toned skin back to the way it was. He mumbled a thank you and then told her to go back again.  
  
"Zelgadis …" she whispered her eyes beginning to water~ but she quickly brushed them away. She understood that Zelgadis' parents had both died. And because he couldn't do any magic, no one would take him in. The kids would bully him, but one day a little girl with gray eyes and lavender hair stood up for him. He remembered it perfectly …  
  
  
*Flash Back*  
  
  
Zelgadis was cornered by about 5 or 6 brute boys. He had a black eye and bruises all over his arms and legs. A small trickle of blood could be seen from the corner of his mouth. His hair had dirt in it. As the leader of the group was about to throw the last punch when a shrill cry was heard from the back. "BOMB DE' WIND!!!" the voice screamed.  
  
Five of the boys were blown away by the impact. The leader (only one left standing) had Zelgadis by the collar and had his fist mere inches from his face. "Well, well, well … if it isn't Rika Yetsumi …" laughed the boy.   
  
The girl~ Rika … growled … "Michael, let Zelgadis go …"  
  
"What if I don't?" he cocked an eyebrow, amused.   
  
Rika pulled up her sleeve. "Then I'll have to make you."   
  
This made the boy Michael laugh and drop Zelgadis. "Try if you dare."  
  
Michael had always had a thing for Rika … every one knew that … he had tried to advance on her many times but she didn't like his character. He wasn't bad looking though. He had shoulder length brown hair, and brown eyes. (Imagine Dallet or Xellos with brown hair and eyes to get the visual in your mind) Michael's parents had both died. His father, before he was born by a plague, and his mother died giving birth. He lived with his grand father until he died of old age and then became a lone kid.   
  
Rika closed her eyes and raised her hands, one behind her and the other in-front lowered a bit. "Freeze Arrow!!!" she screamed.   
  
Michael moved his hands to the same position. "Flare Arrow!!!" he said smirking.   
  
The spells crashed and countered eachother. This time Michael was the first to attack though.  
  
"Fire Ball!!!" he aimed at her.  
  
"Aqua Creal!!!" she said, a huge pillar of water dissolving the fireball. But just as Michael was thinking up a new spell he found himself hurled up against a wall but a quickly shot Rah-Tilt … the strongest attack in Shamanist magic … luckily for Michael her powers were not fully developed and it didn't have as much effect as a full-fledged one would.   
  
A boy in the crowd watching ran up to the still form next to the wall. "He's alive …" he told everyone.   
  
Rika walked over to Zelgadis.   
  
"Hi, My name is Rika Yetsumi … Are you alright?" she asked.  
  
Zelgadis smiled up at her. "Yah~ my name is Zelgadis Greywers … thank you for saving me …"   
  
Rika nodded her head and gave him a hand up.   
  
"You there," she told a girl in the crowd "Go and get my father …"   
  
The girl quickly ran off to get Rika's father. Everyone in the town knew Rika. Her father was the town's doctor.   
  
Rika's father (an expert in white magic) cast some recovery and healing spells on the 5 boys, and Zelgadis. (Rika wondered why she hadn't thought of that …) They recovered and ever since then Zelgadis and Rika had been friends.  
  
The strange thing is … they never found out what happened to Michael … his unconscious form had disappeared … and the only one who knew where he was, was the mysterious, Elven looking, blonde haired woman who had slipped in unnoticed and taken him.   
  
  
*End Flash Back*  
  
  
Rika tried again. "Zelgadis!!! You are the best swordsman in this whole town … you are strong enough as it is …"   
  
Zelgadis turned around to faced her. He shivered in rage. "You only say that because you can do magic. Yet you use it so dumbly~ there is so much you could do … yet you don't."  
  
Rika was about to answer when Zelgadis hissed and grabbed her by the neck. He held her up. Her feet weren't even touching the ground anymore. Zelgadis may not have been able to do magic but because of all his training and sword fighting he was very strong. Rika was losing air fast. She gasped and whimpered in his grasp. Zelgadis blinked and shook his head.   
  
"Oh Lord …" he said dropping her, realizing what he had done. Rika fell limp to the mossy ground. There were blue and purple rings around her neck. How long had he done that?! Why hadn't she moved?! Zelgadis quickly became panicked. Thoughts swarmed around his head.   
  
"R-Rika … A-are you ok?!" he said shakily.  
  
Their was no response. He shakily put a hand on her arm. Her skin was cold. He frantically looked around the clearing for help. Their was no one there.   
  
"Oh dear Lord … someone help me … I didn't mean to do this~" Zelgadis clutched his hair. Rika was the only friend he had in the world. If it weren't for her he would have left that crumby town.   
  
Out of no where a pale, bony hand pointed a staff at her neck. "Time which has past be called back once more …" he placed the orb at the top of his staff at her neck. It automatically made the rings disappear and her groan and roll over. Zelgadis' eyes watered and he looked up. "Rezo!"   
  
Rezo looked down at his grandson/great grandson. "If I had not been here, your friend would be dead. Magic would have been the only way to save her."  
  
Zelgadis trembled. He wanted to me strong and have magic so much. Not being able to do magic might have cost him Rika's life … "Thank you …" he said, kneeling down by Rika's petrified form.   
  
He gently turned her over so that she was facing him. He couldn't stop smiling. He was so glad she was alive. His clear, cerulean eyes met those of petrified, foggy, gray. She shot straight up and quivered. Her eyes watered and she jumped up and frantically and felt her neck. She choked a scared sob. "Z-Zel …" she ran right past him and towards the town with all the speed her legs would allow her.   
  
Zelgadis put his hand out. "RIKA!!!" he screamed, guilt of what he had just done to the only person who really cared about him filled him. He lowered his head.   
  
"I'm a weak pathetic fool." he thought and smashed his fist into the ground. "Rezo, I want to be strong!!!" he said.   
  
Rezo looked down at Zelgadis and pointed the orb in-between his eyes. "I think it is time for you to have the power. You will completely transformed. Do you want it?" Rezo asked.  
  
Zelgadis gulped and slowly bowed his head~ accepting Rezo's offer. Tentacles of red and black electricity rapped around his arms and legs. Zelgadis screamed in pain. His skin became hard and blue, his soft hair became like wire, and little gray pebbles sprouted on his face and body. Electricity surged through him.   
  
A couple of trees away, un-noticed by anyone, a man sat cross-legged in a tree watching them. He laughed. Rika~ she would see it his way … but then he heard a call in the back of his mind … "My general~ I need you …"   
  
With a wave of his staff he disappeared to go do his masters bidding. He would deal with Rika and Zelgadis later.   
  
  
*MEANWHILE*  
  
  
Rika finally made it to the gates of the city. Or where they used to be. Before her was a huge, barren, plain of ashes and rubble. Not a single tree, person, or building stood where her city used to be. Rika choked a sob and fell to her knees. Her mother, father, friends, and every thing that ever meant anything to her was in the city. All except for Zelgadis … and even though she never liked Michael, he was a special person to her~ but he mysteriously disappeared.   
  
She ran down the hillside and into the debris and ashes of her destroyed home. A tear slipped down her cheek as she picked up her father's ring. It was a simple golden band. She rubbed the ash and dirt off it. A tear splashed on it. That was the ring her mother had given her father on their anniversary. She slipped it on her finger and turned dramatically with her cape flapping behind her in the wind. She told herself never to look back … only to start her new life~ she would travel and start a new life~ people started traveling at her age anyway …   
  
She made her way back to the forest she and Zel had last been in but …  
  
  
*MEANWHILE*  
  
  
Rezo smirked and asked him how he liked his new power. Zelgadis quivered and looked at his body. "I'm hideous!!!" Zel screamed.  
  
"I gave you what you asked for …" answered Rezo.  
  
"Yes~ I wanted power … but I don't remember asking to become a chimera in the process!!!"  
  
Rezo shrugged. "With power comes some un-wanted … consequences …"  
  
  
A/N: HI!!! I wanted to leave it at a dumb cliffhanger~ like most authors … anyway … next chapter you'll see what happened to Rika … and what Zel is going to do … Well~ the 2 questions you should keep in your mind are what happened to Michael … and Who is the mysterious man watching them … find out in the next chapter … DUH, DUH, DUH!!! ~MysteriousPriestess 


	2. Fateful Decision

A/N: Hey everyone … Special thanks to Kellychan, Chichirui, and ElvenChild … my first 3 reviewers … Uhm~ to Kellychan if she is reading this, you have a good point … but in the town Zel was in, was in the inner-world … where all the magic was … and he was the only one who couldn't do any magic … I know it doesn't make any sense~ and it's a dumb reason … but I have to have a reason why he had no family … It's essential to the plot … and since it is a fic work with me!!! To ElvenChild perhaps your question should be "What happened to Michael?" And to Chichirui I have my reasons … Lol~ Here is chapter 2 … I hope you like it … hopefully it will answer some of your questions …   
  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers or anything of theirs' … I am just using the characters to write this … I do how ever own Rika~ so don't use her …   
  
  
Chapter 2: Fateful Decision   
  
  
Rika sat cross legged in front of a fire on the hill over-looking what was once her town. Nightfall had come and the last cinders of the dead town were dying down. She sighed and fell back on her bedroll. In the morning she would go back to the forest and tell Zelgadis what had happened. She closed her eyes and turned over … today had been a long day …   
  
In a tree above her, slitted eyes watched her predatorily. The mysterious figure hopped down and advanced on her. He crouched down and looked at her. She was no longer the scrawny, ill-tempered, 6 year old, little girl he had known. She was now 14, about 5`7, slim, with long, lavender hair, and misty, gray eyes. He could feel the raw magic aura around her. "Rika …" he whispered.   
  
Then, suddenly, at the back of his mind was a sharp call. "Report back to me at once my priest! I have a mission for you, in the town of Zephilia …"   
  
"Yes, Beast Master …" he bowed his head and with a wave of his staff teleported to do his master's bidding.   
  
Rika woke up early in the morning and shivered. It was still dark, but dewy … She stretched, bathed, dressed, and packed her things. She began the half day walk to the forest. (It normally took less than that but she was on the other side of her city.)   
  
  
*Else where … about mid-day*  
  
  
"Zelgadis," Rezo stretched out his hand, "come with me and help me search for the Sorcerer's Stone …"  
  
Zelgadis looked down at his body. What did he have to lose? If he worked for Rezo he'd get stronger, learn how to use  
his new body, and get revenge.  
  
"Alright, Rezo …" he said, hiding his reasons why.  
  
Just then Zelgadis (with his new chimera hearing) heard a twig snap. Some one had been watching them … and he didn't know for how long. Then he remembered a certain someone he had forgotten about. "RIKA!!!" he screamed and lunged in the direction of the city.   
  
Rezo put a hand on his shoulder. "Forget about her, Zelgadis. You are my minion now."   
  
Zelgadis growled. "She's in trouble, isn't she?!"   
  
Rezo didn't answer … Zelgadis ran at his new chimera speed. He became a blur at amazing speed. It took him eleven and a half seconds to get where the city gates once were. When he got there though, their was no Rika, no city … no life …   
  
A tear slipped down his cheek. "Rika …" he bowed his head and whimpered.   
  
"Rika must have been in the city when this happened. Rika ... I'm so sorry …"  
  
Zelgadis pounded his fist in the ground. Rika~ his only friend … it was his fault … she was only trying to help …  
  
  
* MEANWHILE BACK IN THE FOREST*   
  
  
Rika sat behind a group of shrubs. She had been there long enough to see Rezo turn Zelgadis into a chimera. She had her hands around her knees, and her head resting on them. "Zel …" she thought. When she heard a clink and a "Levitation!!!" she saw Rezo go, and got up.   
  
  
*Back to Zelgadis …*  
  
  
Zelgadis looked up. "Rezo …"  
  
"I told you to forget about her …" Rezo said sadly.  
  
"You did this, didn't you?!" he glared up accusingly at Rezo.   
  
"No~ I had no idea this would happen … but it is wise not to get attached to others." Rezo told him.  
  
Zelgadis got up with a solemn look on his face. "Then I shall help you look for the Sorcerer's Stone …"   
  
"Good," Rezo handed him a map and pointed to a stone structure on the parchment, "This will be your castle. There, you and your new minions will track down the Sorcerer's Stone for me," then he pointed to a structure Northeast of it "and that is my tower if you ever need me, or have the stone, I can be found there." and with a wave of his staff he disappeared to his tower, leaving Zel with a new pair of clothes (that covered everything but his fingers and eyes), a new sword, a bedroll, some money, and everything he needed to travel.   
  
Rika cast Ray Wing and landed about half a mile from the gates.   
  
"If Rezo is there I don't want to be seen …" she thought.   
  
She quietly sprinted the half mile and hid behind a tree. From there she saw a figure in a beige cloak solemnly push together a mound of a dirt, tie together two sticks to create a cross, put the cross in the pile of dirt, and kneel before the little monument.   
  
"Rika," he whispered with a cracked throat "I am so sorry~ it is my fault that you are not here right now. I swear I will find out who did this and avenge you. I will also kill Rezo for doing this to me … Forgive me~ I will never forget you … you were my only friend …" he said, dropping a white lily on the mound.   
  
Rika couldn't believe what she seeing. "Zel? I'm not dead …" she thought.   
  
She was just about to step out from behind the tree when she saw him turn around. One crystalline tear slipped down his rock face, hardened, and became a gem right above his nose. He turned around and laid the tear gem on the mound too. "Good bye, Rika …" he said and began walking on a trail to the North.   
  
Rika stepped out and watched him go. "So Zelgadis works for Rezo now …" she thought.  
  
She cast Levitation and flew to the next village where her uncle lived. She knew that Zelgadis would spend the night in the forest, collect his things, and then the next morning he would head toward his new castle. That would give her enough time (if she traveled all night) to go to her Uncle's and still catch Zelgadis before he left.   
  
  
2nd A/N: HEY!!! I know it's not much of a cliffhanger~ but oh, well … I didn't want to start the whole next, long thing on Zel collecting his things and Rika going to her Uncle's … well~ since everything she owns, and all her family in that town were burned she had to go to her nearest relative … her Uncle Leslie … well next chapter I will try to explain the "blond, Elven looking lady", "Michael", and the "general/priest" … you probably have figured it out though … I dropped a lot of hints. Well I hope you enjoyed and thanks to all who reviewed … Ja'ne!!! ~MysteriousPriestess 


End file.
